Monday, September 14, 2015

UAE-led Anti-Houthi Forces Take Control of Mareb City

In a
major victory for anti-Houthi forces, the UAE-led fighters today
took control of Mareb City in the center of Yemen, breaking the Houthi siege of
the strategic town and pushing the Houthi/Saleh forces into the surrounding
mountains, AP reported. Mareb City is 200 km (125 miles) from Sanaa, the
country’s capital that was captured by the Houthis last September. Now the
advance of the offensive forces toward Sanaa, if they choose to launch it, could
be slowed down due to the mountainous terrain between them and the capital.

The news agencies and Twitter accounts reported yesterday that Mareb City was under coalition control, and the Houthis had moved to the west of the city (still in Mareb province.) If those reports were accurate, then coalition forces could very well been trying to cut off the highway to the west, blocking Houthi access to the city.

I assume that securing the city itself and clearing the western parts of the province would take a long time. The Houthis would be defending their positions outside the city and would attempt to attack the coalition positions. This is not a one-day ops!

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